Call It Love
by onreserve
Summary: Sixth Year
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer** : I am not JK Rowling therefore I own none of this save for the story line.

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Chapter One

Lily looked out the window and pretended she wasn't exactly where she was. Why suffer through this tense, silent, awkward ride to King's Cross with Petunia when she could recall last night with Bobby. The way his lips felt on her throat, his fingers through her hair, their sweaty, entwined bodies and fast breathing. Then again, maybe that wasn't the best thing to think about when she was sitting right next to her sister in their tiny car.

Instead, her thoughts took a darker turn, straying toward everything that had happened during her summer at home. She could vividly recall the salty tears that had stained her face more nights than she could count. The dark day that July when the sun baked her skin and accosted her eyes giving her a headache that she barely felt through her grief. She remembered standing by her dad's grave that day in her itchy, heat retaining, black dress. She could almost still feel her mother and sister standing behind her on either side, her mother's tears splashing on her shoulder and her sister still and stiff as a statue. Her stomach twisted as she thought farther back and recalled the day her father died.

L&J

 _"Look dad, I don't know why you're so worried about me being on drugs. You are obviously the one under the influence if you think Cybermen are scarier than Daleks!" Harold Evans gasped exaggeratedly._

 _"How dare you insinuate I would ever try the 'Mary Jane' plant." Lily rolled her eyes and laughed readjusting her position on the couch to better face her dad._

 _"Daleks are merciless! In a fight between Daleks and Cybermen, Daleks would totally win! They're indestructible. Only the Doctor can destroy them." Harold shook his head good-naturedly recognizing what a lost cause arguing with his stubborn daughter was. He turned back to the TV._

 _"Whatever you say, kiddo. Those Cybermen give me the willies." Lily stared at her father for a tick and watched her dad massage his shoulder and work his jaw. He looked tired and he kept shifting in his seat. Lily studied him closer and realized he was sweating. He caught her looking at him and gave her a strained smile before turning back to the TV. Lily followed his lead, but continued to watch from the corner of her eye._

 _She was concerned. He'd been working late a lot this week and he had been under a ton of stress at work. After a minute or two she became more engrossed in the show, writing her dad's discomfort off as probable indigestion. He always did get gassy after eating her mom's spaghetti._

" _Bloody hell, is that cardboard on-" Lily cut off as she heard a muffled thud from next to her. She looked down on the floor to see her dad's still body and fell to her hands and knees. "Mom! Mom, get in here!" She lightly smacked her dad's cheeks trying to wake him up and get some kind of reaction._

 _Her mom pushed open the door to the den. "Lily," she said concerned. "Lily, what's wro-" Her voice cut off in a blood chilling scream._

L&J

There had been times this past summer after her father died where the veil of numbness that surrounded Lily's mind lifted. Times spent with her friends, Marlene saying something outrageous that would startle a rusty, hysteric laugh out of her throat or Mary doing something so genuinely sweet that Lily could feel the fog in her mind receding. Times spent with Bobby, heart thudding, lips clashing, bodies melting into each other, her mind finally, blissfully clear. Those moments were always fleeting and rare, and more often than not Lily was left going through the motions, floating through her days.

Petunia's sharp voice cut through Lily's morbid reverie. "We're here. Get out." Lily peeled her face from the cold window glass and looked around. They were indeed at King's Cross and after a quick check of her watch Lily realized she was running late.

She hastily pushed open her door and hopped out of the car, running around to the boot to grab her trunk. She was about to say goodbye to her sister, when Petunia put her foot on the gas and drove away, lazily lifting one hand in a careless wave. "Bye Tuney," Lily whispered at her feet. She rolled her shoulders and took a deep breath.

"Lily," she heard a familiar voice call. She turned and found herself face to face with Bobby. He pulled her into his chest with the arm not holding onto his luggage trolley. "Was that Petunia I saw speeding away?"

"Yes. Yes it was. Be grateful you missed her." Bobby chuckled and kissed her forehead before heaving Lily's trunk on top of his own. "Thanks boyfriend of mine," Lily said with a flirtatious smile. "I knew you were good for something." She winked at him and he bent his head to whisper in her ear.

"I'm good for more than that." His lips brushed her skin and she felt a delicious shiver run through her body. "Or do you need a reminder." His mouth left her ear and traveled down to her neck.

"Oi, have you forgotten that we're in public?" Lily looked down at her wristwatch again. "Or that we're running extremely late," she reminded him, pushing him away and walking swiftly towards the barrier for Platform 9¾, Bobby trailing behind her with the carts. He caught up with her on the other side and caught her hand as they walked to the train.

"Alright, Evans?" _Bloody hell,_ Lily thought, rolling her eyes before turning around with an impassive look on her face.

"Potter," Lily said, making an extreme effort to keep her voice neutral. "How was your summer?" She looked around, expecting to see the other _Marauders._ "Where are the other hooligans," she asked with a self-satisfied smirk gracing her face.

"It was brill, thanks for asking, love." He ran a hand through his hair and threw a cheeky wink in Bobby's direction. Bobby glanced at Lily, clearly uncomfortable with the other boy's presence. "The other _hooligans_ ," he chuckled a little, "are already on the train." He looked at Bobby again, a slightly uncertain look crossing his face for the first time in Lily's memory. "Er, Bobby, do you think I could talk to Lily for a second." Lily's chest began to fill with panic. "You know, alone?" She squeezed Bobby's hand silently willing him not to leave her alone with James Potter. Bobby looked between James and Lily.

"Yeah, sure, I guess that's alright." He turned to Lily, a small, uncomfortable smile on his face. "I'll go ahead and get us a compartment. See you later, okay?" He bent down and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and then he was gone and Lily Evans was alone with James Potter.

"Shite," James started. "Er, I…This is awkward." Lily cleared her throat and tried not to grimace. What the hell was this about and why did James want to talk to her? It wasn't like they were friends. They didn't have the best relationship, they didn't have a relationship period, especially not after what had transpired at the end of last year. "I just wanted to say that I heard about your dad." She looked up at him, but he was looking down at his feet and wringing his hands like he couldn't figure out what to do with them. His brow furrowed and his ears turned a surprisingly bright red. "I'm really sorry about your dad and I know you've heard that about a billion times, but if there is anything you need this year," at this he looked up, pulling a hand through his messy hair and staring into her eyes. Why hadn't Lily ever noticed before that his eyes were hazel? A warm, muddy mix of green and gold and brown? "I'm here for you." And then before Lily could open her mouth, he nodded his head and turned towards the train leaving Lily gaping after him wondering what the hell had just happened.

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 **A/N** : Hello all! This is my first multi chap! Yay! I'm in college right now and finals are coming up, but I'm going to try to update this weekly. I'm really excited about this story and I hope you all like it. Please, please, please leave reviews, they are so great for motivation. Thanks for reading all of this and enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** JKR owns everything you recognize.

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Chapter Two

It took Lily a little while to pull herself back together after that weird display of concern from Potter, formerly known as the world's biggest prat. When she finally managed to pull her jaw off of the ground she basically had to sprint to the train. She made her way through the aisle checking each compartment in search of Bobby. Thankfully it didn't take her long to find him because all Lily wanted to do was sit and read and try not to think about Potter and his confusing act of kindness.

When she finally found the compartment Bobby had chosen she noted that he had already changed into his robes. He was nothing if not punctual and his anticipation for the new school year had left him a little eager. She appreciated the way his blue and bronze Ravenclaw tie complemented his fair coloring. With his blonde hair, blue eyes, and jawline that was probably chiseled from marble, Bobby was what most would call conventionally good looking and what Marlene called cookie cutter, cookie for short. (Thankfully Bobby still didn't understand why Marlene called him Cookie; that might offend him.) To Lily, he was simply perfect. Perfect looks, perfect personality, perfect manners, perfect everything.

"Hey," Lily said, finally stepping into the compartment. Bobby looked up from the book he was reading.

"Hey, love," Bobby said, and Lily thought back to her conversation with James and how he had called her that. What had that been about? "Are you alright? You look a bit agitated." Lily tried to quickly relax her scrunched face. "What did James want to talk with you about anyway?"

Lily thought about actually telling Bobby the truth, that it had been a weird conversation during which Potter actually seemed concerned about her, but chose to keep it to herself. It's not that she thought Bobby would be jealous. Not at all; Bobby wasn't the jealous type. It was just that ever since her dad died, she hadn't wanted to talk about her problems, she wanted to escape them and the best way she had found to do that was to ignore them and focus on something else. Something like a boyfriend who was very willing to help out in _any_ way possible. Maybe it wasn't the healthiest way to deal with things, but at least she was dealing. So instead of telling Bobby what had happened she closed the compartment door, plopped down into his lap, and kissed him.

Things were starting to heat up when Marlene stuck her head in the compartment door. "Lily! Bloody hell you naughty minx, I just ate, I do not need to see your knickers." Lily quickly leapt from Bobby's lap and readjusted her skirt. "Have you been in here the whole time," Marlene asked, eyebrows rising as she took in a very disheveled Bobby. "Mary and I were worried you missed the train or something, but you're in here ravaging Cookie." She made a disgusted face and Lily snorted.

"You're just jealous you haven't found a victim to _ravage_ yet, Marls. Where's Mary?"

"Hullo." Lily turned her head slightly to find the person in question entering their compartment.

"Hey Mary," said Marlene in an exaggerated cheery voice. "You just missed Lily and Bobby partaking in some _unsavory_ activities." Marlene winked and waggled her eyebrows. Mary flushed a pretty pink and fidgeted uncomfortably looking down at her feet. Marlene heaved a gusty sigh and plopped down on the bench opposite Lily and Bobby. "I'm just happy someone's getting some. I haven't had a _victim_ ," she shot a glance at Lily, smirking, "Since Ellen. Or was it Jake." Marlene brought her hand in front of her face counting her fingers. "Oh whatever. The point is I need sex. Like yesterday."

"Don't be so dramatic Marlene," came Mary's high-pitched voice. She sat primly on the seat next to Marlene, her face still a little pink. "We all know you're just trying to make Dorcas jealous." Marlene scoffed and Mary tried her best to look innocent. She couldn't quite contain her smile.

"Oh don't try to deny it Marlene. You've been pining after Meadows since third year."

"Okay, fuck all of you," Marlene said with a not quite believable scowl on her face. She plopped her feet on Lily's lap. "I don't _pine_ after anyone."

"Really," Mary inquired, eyes wide. "Lily, have we had a single conversation with Marls this summer that hasn't started with 'I wonder what Dorcas is doing right now' or 'Do you think she'd write me back if I wrote her a letter.'" Mary giggled and tried to smother it with her hand. "I've never seen Marlene so worked up over anyone before." Lily laughed loudly which quickly turned into fake coughing when Marlene glared at her and dug her heel into Lily's thigh.

Bobby cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Sorry, I'm a little left out here. Marlene and Dorcas? Dorcas Meadows? My fellow Ravenclaw Prefect?" Marls groaned and put her head in her hands.

"No! Marlene and no one. We are done talking about this. Lily, change of subject. Please." Marlene looked up at her with puppy dog eyes. "I'll do your laundry for a week." Lily gave an exaggerated roll of her eyes.

"The house elves do our laundry Marls."

"Anything from the trolley dears?" All four of the teenagers' heads turned towards the kindly old lady and her sweets. Marlene heaved a sigh of relief.

"I will buy anything you want me too, you beautiful lady."

L&J

Lily knew what to look forward to in coming back to school after the holidays. Still, expecting something and experiencing it are two very different things. She had read about Thestrals, seen illustrations in books, learned about them in care of magical creatures, but now… Now she could see them for herself.

She didn't know how to describe them really. Basically they were black, bony horse-like creatures. In class she had thought of them as creepily cute, but all Lily could think of when she saw them now was what they symbolized. It was an all-too-real reminder of the fact that her father was gone. She could feel the tears building and closed her eyes hard, trying to shut everything out and keep her composure.

Marlene grabbed her hand. "It's the Thestrals, right?" Lily nodded, biting her lower lip to keep it from wobbling. Bobby grabbed her other hand and rubbed his thumb over the backs of her knuckles and Mary placed her hand reassuringly on the small of Lily's back. Lily took a deep breath willing her body to absorb the warmth offered to her by her friends. She steeled herself, sucked in a deep breath, counted to three and then forced a grin onto her face.

"Shall we." She dropped Bobby's hand and opened the carriage door with a flourish. She motioned for Bobby to climb in and then followed him. She closed her eyes and placed her head on Bobby's shoulder listening to Mary and Marlene shuffle in and then the carriage was off. Marlene and Mary took up a quiet conversation and Bobby stretched his arms across Lily's shoulders. She lifted her head and pushed aside the curtain looking out the carriage window. She looked up at the moon and let her friends' hushed tones and the warmth from her boyfriend's body lull her into a state of deep relaxation as they rode to the castle.

L&J

Despite the weird start to her day, the sorting was uneventful. Truthfully, Lily was a little too busy commenting on the first years' cuteness with Marlene and Mary to pay much attention. Dumbledore, it seemed, rarely planned out his speeches ahead of time and she allowed herself to zone out as he went off on a tangent about random muggle candies. She was starving and he wasn't helping. She wished she could just put her head in her arms and take a short nap. She felt drained, both physically and emotionally.

Lily turned her attention back to Dumbledore as he paused in his speech. "The recent attacks on London…" Her spine stiffened. Dumbledore never talked about the war with the students. "…have had a significant impact on the wizarding world. Tensions have risen in households across the country and because of this problems may arise in the student body. Now, what we need more than ever, is to stand together in the face of adversity and show that Hogwarts will not cower to cowards." He paused and Lily noticed just how silent the Great Hall was, how focused everyone was on their Headmaster. "Now, back to the start of term reminders…"

Lily couldn't focus on Dumbledore's lectures about the forbidden forest. He had actually brought up the war; things were getting serious. She thought about what he had said about problems arising in the student body. There was such a vast divide in all of the houses already between the "blood traitors" and the "mudbloods" and the students who supported Voldemort's agenda. Lily couldn't imagine how things could get any worse.

Marlene tensed next to her. Lily looked into her friend's somber face. It wasn't very often that Marlene couldn't find something to laugh about and the fact that she was so serious now had Lily more anxious than anything that had come out of Dumbledore's mouth.

"Hey," came a soft voice from Lily's right. Marlene and Lily turned to face Mary. "He didn't say anything we didn't already know." Lily considered this. She felt her jaw unclench. Mary was right. They had all been home this summer. They'd all heard the rumors. Hell, Marlene's parents had been in London during the attacks and had seen everything first hand. Nothing had changed.

"There isn't anything we can do about it now. We're back at Hogwarts, the safest place we can be. No one's going to try anything here." Lily smiled and it was only a little forced.

"You're right Mary. Thanks." Mary nodded sharply, always a little uncomfortable with praise, and turned her attention toward the food which had now magically appeared.

Lily had had dreams about the welcome feast over the summer. A growing girl needed her food and Lily was definitely no exception. The house elves didn't disappoint. Creamy potatoes, fragrant sausages, warm bread, pretty much anything she could possibly want. Lily had her mouth full to bursting with bangers and mash when Alice Prewett and Frank Longbottom, the Gryffindor seventh year prefects, sat down across from her on either side of Mary.

"Alice," She tried to say through her mouthful of food. It ended up sounding more like malice, but why Lily would be happily squealing malice, she had no idea. She swallowed and tried again. "Alice! Frank! How are you guys? How was your summer?" Alice opened her mouth to answer, but faltered upon hearing a roar of laughter from her right.

Lily looked over Marlene's head to see the Marauders seated a few seats down. Potter was sitting across from one of his best friends Sirius Black, the source of the laughter, throwing bits of food into his mouth. As Lily watched, Black caught a rather large bit of carrot. Peter Pettigrew cheered loudly punching the air with his fist and Remus Lupin clapped politely with an amused expression on his face as if watching a match of golf.

"Oi, Black," shouted Marlene from her seat next to Lily. "You're pretty good with your mouth." She was grinning widely and when Sirius looked over and smirked she gave an exaggerated wink.

"Oh, I'm very good with my mouth. Care for a demonstration?" Sirius' smirk slipped as James threw a bit of sausage at the side of his face. "It's on now," Sirius growled playfully, turning back to face James.

"I don't know why you flirt with him so much," Mary whispered from next to Marlene. "It's not going to impress Dorcas any." None of them missed the way Marlene's eyes darted to the Ravenclaw table where Dorcas was deep in conversation with Bobby and several of her other Ravenclaw friends.

"Is she still hung up on her," asked Alice.

"I am hung up on no one," declared Marlene indignantly. Alice just looked at her with a pitying, but amused smile on her face. "Besides Sirius doesn't care. We have an _understanding._ " Lily who was no stranger to Marlene's cryptic tone and mysterious antics let loose a little sigh. She was through asking Marlene outright what her strange flirting relationship with Sirius was about. On the other side of the table Alice and Frank exchanged curious glances before turning back to Marlene.

"What is this _understanding_ ," questioned Alice, mimicking Marlene's tone perfectly.

Mary let loose a huge sigh. She was as bored with Marlene's dodgy attitude as Lily was. "She's not going to tell you," Mary said in a tired voice. "It's not even worth asking." Alice looked back at Marlene who mimed zipping her lips.

Frank changed the subject. "So Lily, you wanted to know about our summers." And so went the rest of the dinner until dessert was served. Lily was about to dig into her ramekin of bread pudding when she heard a strange, startled sound coming from the back of the hall. She glanced at her friends and found them all turned around looking, she assumed, at the Slytherin table. She turned around in her seat to assess the situation.

The Slytherins were looking around wildly, some confused, some panicked, some amused, and all of them hiccupping. Lily guessed that the hiccupping had been the weird noise she had heard echoing through the Great Hall. Groups of Slytherins were stumbling from the hall now, hands covering their mouths and clutching their stomachs. Even though Lily hadn't talked to him in months, her eyes sought out her former best friend.

It didn't take her long to locate Severus Snape. He was the only Slytherin not in motion, the only exception being his heaving chest. He was sitting in his seat calmly glaring at someone. Lily followed Severus' line of sight all the way to a hysterically laughing James Potter. Of course it had been a Marauders prank, she had already put that much together. They loved to poke fun at the Slytherin's; all in the name of the house rivalry, usually harmless. She looked back at Severus still sitting there, hiccupping, glaring, and she couldn't stifle the slightly hysterical laughter ripping through her throat. Mary, Marlene, Alice, and Frank who had all been laughing amongst themselves and talking about the Marauders' pranking prowess, all turned toward the guffawing Lily.

"Are you alright Lily," asked a concerned looking Mary. "I mean the prank was great, but I'm not sure it's _that_ funny." Lily ignored her slightly worried friends and looked down the table at James. He was already looking at her, a questioning look in his eyes. When he saw her gleeful expression his face morphed into his trademark crooked grin and he winked at her. Lily's insane laughter petered out and she looked away, ignoring the heat rising in her cheeks. She ducked her head, hair covering her face, and, sure no one was looking, allowed a small smile.

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 **A/N:** Woohoo second chapter! A little plot! Did you guys enjoy it? What do you think Marlene and Sirius' understanding is? More to come next Friday!

Love to everyone who is reading this,

Fletch


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